638 
the Purgatorio and Paradifo. They who 
are acquainted with the original will be 
indulgent to the tranflation: their expecta- 
tion will be, little, and their difappoint- 
ment lefs. Mr. Boyd is correé, but dif- 
fufe ; and his diffufenefs occafionally de- 
generates into feeblenefs and languor. He 
has, however, executed his tafk in a man- 
ner which is creditable to his perfe- 
verance, as well as to his genius. If in 
the tranflated verfion the original fome- 
times fuifers by expanfion, the latter is 
oftentimes indebted to the former for ‘ele- 
gance of expreflion and harmony of num- 
bers. 
*¢ Poems by Mrs. JouN HUNTER.” 
There is confiderable merit in thefe 
Poems: they intereft by the fimplicity ot 
their thoughts and the appropriate fimpli- 
city of their language. They afpire not 
to originality of conception or to ftrength 
of diction: if they do not infpire delight, 
they never excite contempt. 
PeTER Pinpar’s ‘* Horrors of Bri- 
bery, Gc.” exhibits a mifapplication of 
the fineft talents upon a moft contemptible 
fubje&t. We profefs ourfelves unacquaint- 
ed with the Devonfhire jargon. 
<¢ St. Peter’s Denial of Chriff ; a Sear 
tonian Prize Poem, by the Rev.W.Cock- 
BURNE.” 
After a Critique by the Vice Chancellor 
of the Univerfity, and the Maiter of Clare 
Hall, it is fufficient to announce the pub- 
lication of a Poein which has received fuch 
honours, 
“© Wallace ; or, the Vale of Ellerfie ; 
with other Poems.” 
This little volume does credit to the 
author’s fancy and poetic powers. 
‘¢ Poems, by FRANCIS WRANGHAM.”’ 
Mr. Wrangham has fo often won the 
Seaton prize, that to defcant on his me- 
rits would be impertinent. Thefle Poems 
will not difcredit his fame. Our article 
is already extended to an unufual length, 
or we would have enriched it with one or 
two of the minor effufions of this gentle- 
man, 
“© Componimenti Lirict de’ pix tiluftri 
Poett @Italia, feelti da T. J. Maturas. 
3 Tomes.” 
Mr. Mathias is a perfect mafter of the 
Italianlanguage. ‘The twoaddrefles with 
which his work opens, written in that lan- 
guage, are chafte and elegant; and his 
verfion of Giay’s Sonnet on the Death of 
the Hon. R. Weft, is compofed with the 
fkill of a mafter. Among the poets from 
whom thofe lyric fweets are rifled, we fee 
the names of Dante, Petrarch, Lorenzo 
de Medici, Poliziano, Ariofto, Tarzillo, 
Retrofpeet of Domeftic Literature.—Novels and Romances. 
‘Forguate aud Bernardo Taffo, Sannazetto, 
Aleflandro Guidi, &c. &c. The felec- 
tion difplays great judgment and tafte. 
We havedwelt to long on the fubje& of 
Poetry, that, omitting to notice many 
minor productions, we muft hagen to the 
next divifion of our Retro{pe@, namely, 
to ; ; : 
NOVELS AND ROMANCES. 
Among thefe, few have made more noife 
in the world than the profligate pages of 
Madame ce Sratw’s “ Delphine.” 
. _Itis verycertain-that this auburn-haired, 
- white-bofom’d, blite-eyed young widow, 
Delphine, would never have been taken 
much notice of but for the moral governor 
of Franee yclept le Premier Conful. A(- 
tonifhing! that {uch miferable ftupid 
trafh fhould have been thought worthy the 
vengeance of the conqueror of Lodi and 
Jemappe! But the whole impreffion of 
Delphine was {eized, a copy.of it burnt by 
the executioner, and the prototype of the 
principal character, toe authorels herfelf, 
fent out of Paris. Asa matter of courfe, 
curiofity was excited: grofs, indeed, mut 
- be that leffon of immorality which Ab- 
dalla Bonaparte could not endure in his 
dominions: and every body, male and fe- 
male, boys and girls, was anxious to’ 
know precifely 4ozw grofs was the leffon, 
and to iorm his own judgment of its de- 
pravity. Among others, we alfo took up 
the volumes; and, notwithftanding the 
harfh epithet we have juft applied to it, 
can fafely fay——no thanks to the authorefs 
——that we believe it to be a very innocu-. 
ous work. ‘The praile-worthy objeét of 
Madame de Stael is—not to. excite com- 
paffion in behalf of thofe haplefs wanderers 
who earn a moit wretched and precarious 
fubiftence by the proftitution of their per- 
fons-—no, her object is to meit the fpotlefs 
icicle of virgin chaftity, to relax the frown 
of offended madefty, to unbind that facred 
ceftus, that myfterious girdle, which alone 
gives intereft and grace to beauty, and of 
old was confidered as capable of infpiring 
Jove, even when worn by the moft ugly 
and deformed; her object is to profane 
the fan&tity of marriage vows, to but 
no more. Notwithttanding this compli- 
cated depravity in principle, the book will 
do no harm! The characters, with the ex- 
ception of Delphine and Madame de Vers 
non, are vulgar and commoan-place, occa- 
fionally relieved by a dath of uznzatural- 
nefs and ablurdity : as are the charaéters, 
fo are the incidents, forming altogether 
one of the dulleft and moft heavy maffes” 
which ever fhelf groaned under. 
Mad. GENL1s,ever foremoft in the caufe 
virtue, 
